Fight Night Round 3

Xbox 360

EA Sports

Sports

Graphics: 9

Sound: 8

Gameplay: 8

Overall: 8

If you look at the Xbox
360 version of Fight Night Round 3 and believe the only difference are the
graphics, you're wrong. It's not a matter of opinion. The first edition of the Fight
Night series is a radical change, even if at a quick glance, it doesn't appear so.
The technology is used to create the first truly next-gen sports title, and the benefits
are stunning.

The lack of any meters, bars, or indicators is the game's crucial departure from the norm.
Though they can still be turned on if needed, getting into the ring without them is
obviously the way this game was intended to be played. Instead of fighting with various
colored bars, you're fighting against another person whose movements are the only
necessary indicators. You can see the pain in their eyes, the fatigue setting in, and
gruesome broken noses in brutal detail. This is what the graphical detail and processing
power brings with it. Knocking someone down is guess work, not just pummeling them until
the meter says they're down.

You'll be decimating your opponents with Total Punch Control, an overrated control scheme
due to inaccuracies, and not one that was needed in the first place. The button controls
still feel more natural, though it's ridiculous that given all the buttons, certain moves
are not available to non-analog players. These moves require some work to pull off,
whipping the analog stick around to various degrees and hoping you're executing the right
one (since the margin error is minimal).

These punches create the unpredictability in boxing. Flash KO's,
Stun Punches, and wild haymakers can change the fight instantly. Stunning a boxer puts the
injured into a first-person view where they'll need to defend against an onslaught of
punches to avoid being knocked down. It's a major change, and the balance in these blows
is perfect. They're difficult to get off, and rightfully so. The cut man returns to patch
up the damaged fighter, and this simplistic system adds a layer of depth outside of the
punching.

While it's nearly perfect in the ring, outside of it the experience has some problems. The
career mode needs more of everything, except for more advertisements. It's a sad day when
your Xbox Live profile is forever plastered with company based
"adver-chievements." The number of training mini-games is a miniscule three,
items like shorts bought from the in-game store apparently help a boxers stamina, and
there are some glaring gaps.

Though most screens show how long it is until your next fight, it has no bearing on the
action. You can only train once in-between matches regardless of the time frame. There was
room for strategy, but it's lost. There's also an opportunity to pay a contract fee for a
new trainer, yet the stat boost is so miniscule, you're better off sticking with the free
one you'll use from the start.

Online play is also poorly set up. This was not created for Xbox
Live. For instance, a player must enter a room and get ready before they're able to send
an invite. Worse, private rooms are password locked for no apparent reason. The invite
system should have negated the need for that. Finally, there's seemingly no way to choose
a control scheme for each player. The host dictates that, regardless of a player's
preference. Still, there's a complete lack of lag when online, and when everyone's happy
with the controls, it's a smooth, fun, and most importantly competitive title for online
play.

That's the story with the entire game though. The in-ring action is close to flawless, it
doesn't matter what complaints you have before you get there. The classic fights alone,
some even being done in black and white for effect, are nearly worth a purchase. It could
still use a push towards realism (400 punches to some ones head will not only knock them
out, they'll likely never box again), but Fight Night Round 3 is the best of the
Xbox 360 sports games so far.